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Do Four Books and
a Movie Make a Right? |
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With the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the movie, English writer J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter fiction series has escalated in popularity, but not without concern. Schools have caught Harry Potter fever as well. Some are reading it to their students in class and others are making it mandatory reading.
Still more are even taking their students to see the movie as a class field trip.
All this promotion should come as no surprise since many teachers and parents support the four books as great literary works of fantasy. In dramatic contrast, some say its completely evil and no good can come from it. This is something a few Christian churches would disagree with, as they say that you can lead someone to Christ using Harry Potter.
You need to choose whether or not you should read Harry Potter or support your kids in doing so. Our saying that Harry Potter is evil would serve no purpose, but our showing you what the Bible teaches us about the themes and ideas expressed in the Harry Potter books, allows you to make right choices. Who is Harry Potter? If you have been listening to the news the last few months you've probably already heard about him but for those who need extra details, here goes. Harry Potter is a young boy who possesses a power not of his own, that he was supposedly born with. Harry's parents were killed when he was very young, by the evil wizard Lord Voldermort. Ever since the death of his parents he has lived with his aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon Dursley, who seriously mistreat him. Harry caters to the Dursley's every demand while his spoiled cousin sits by. Unlike the rest of his "family," Harry is distinguished by having a mark on his forehead and weird things happen around him that he can't explain but often gets in trouble for. These inexplicable events seem to occur most when Harry is upset or emotionally involved. On Harry's 11th birthday he receives a letter via an owl. The letter says Harry is accepted to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry attends the school where he learns to take control of the "power" he possesses. The books in the series represent each year Harry attends Hogwarts. Some experiences that take place while at Hogwarts include, going to a "death party" for a ghost named Nearly Headless Nick, flying on broom sticks, and much casting of spells. The author J.K. Rowling is quoted as saying, in an interview with Time Magazine, that the books will become darker yet as the series progresses. "There will be deaths," she says, for "the only way to show how evil it is to take a life is to kill someone the reader cares about." (Time Magazine, July 26, 1999) In an interview with BBC Radio, J.K Rowling has admitted that the content may be too much for some.
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So what should a Christian do with Harry Potter? Though the book takes a fantasy approach to its ideas, they have serious content. The included ideas of witchcraft and casting spells, contact with ghost-like figures, and drinking the blood of a animals are very real and not to be taken lightly. God commands his people to be different and to oppose such themes.
It is good to be aware of what is out there, but not to participate in the activities. Our proper understanding of what is being taught enables us to expose it for what it really is.
While Colossians 2:8 doesn't directly mention sorcery, it does reference "deceptive philosophy." In Britain, where the book first came out, the movie originally was titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The name was changed in the United States to give it a more mystical appearance, perhaps also better reflecting its contents. The Harry Potter books show no difference between the power "good" uses and the power "evil" uses. It's represented as merely "a force" much like the one found in the Star Wars movies — that you can use it for good or for bad. Of course, they present it that you, as an individual, get to decide what is right and wrong. This entire idea of subjective morality is completely wrong, standing opposed to the absolute right and wrong that God has clearly set up. This God given contrast is clearly shown in Galatians 5:19-24, where the acts of the sinful nature are compared to the fruit of the Spirit.
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What about the Gospel and Harry Potter?
Using every day analogies to illustrate the gospel is not a problem, in and of itself. Yet, when the analogy upholds – in a positive light – practices that are wrong, it could do more damage than good. Could someone come to know the Lord through a flawed method? Yes! God saves people probably more often than not in spite of the methods. Just "because it works" does not make the practice right. With the Harry Potter books, so much goes against God's Word. Trying to use it for evangelism dangerously promotes much that is false. God has called us to a lifestyle (words and deeds) that is to reflect what we believe. Do you seriously think Jesus would use Harry Potter stories as illustrations? If you think so, read again the parables that Jesus actually used. The Old Testament practices that God condemned as wrong, that would lead His people astray, are still working to do the same today.
God also knew that our minds are easily polluted and that our minds were completely so before we came to salvation. Dealing with our thoughts is something that is not an option for a Christian.
Clearly, what we think about affects our actions.
Loving God first and placing Him in first place in all areas of our life serves to make sure we obey Him. Why else would this be the first and greatest commandment?
The question is, is what you're reading in these books bringing you closer to God or drawing you away in thought or deed? Most people don't like to admit it but what we watch, read, and listen to does affect us in some way — for good or for bad.
A lot of the practices in Harry Potter may not be what actual witches do in real life but it's very much along the same lines. For example, the spells may not be real in the Potter stories, as you may not find them in a witches (wiccan) book, but they use the same method to accomplish the task; namely manipulating items through spoken incantations. This, at the least, desensitizes kids to occultic behavior and, at the worst, out rightly promotes it. The Potter books merely join a long line of other media (books, movies, games, music) that are doing this as well. Even without the movie the books are very detailed and graphic, at times fully creating mental images. In one instance where the evil Lord has taken form in the back of an other's head, he said, "See what I have become? Mere shadow and vapor.... I have form only when I can share another's body... " Possession of an unclean spirit is not a joking matter. Should a student have to read these books in school, or go on a class field trip to see such a movie? Literary work or not, how is the reader or movie viewer actually looking at the subject matter? Children have a hard time separating reality from fiction. Adults are more often able to separate reality and fiction quite well, however society often misses that children are not able to. In that light, the Harry Potter books present a distorted world view, where the real world is the abnormal one. The mystical world that Harry lives in, including the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is presented as what should be normal. Anyone who is not a wizard (the "muggles") are unenlightened weirdoes.
Consider the following brief, but to-the-point, verse found in Scriptures...
This is a serious statement. Why would God make such a seemingly harsh statement? Consider that when God established His law, the first statement was to have no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3). Sorcery is man's attempt to play God. Witchcraft professes to be able to manipulate the environment or elements by spoken word, or even to create out of nothing. God alone is able to create out of nothing as He displayed at the beginning of Genesis, so too God is the only one who has the power to speak to created things and make them obey (Mark 4:39-41). It should not surprise us that God equates rebellion with witchcraft and its practice of divination.
Where does this leave me? If you are an educator in a school classroom, or a parent, should you read the Harry Potter books to your students, or children, or have them read them? Should you take them to see the movie? Your answer needs to be based on doing what is biblically right. Consider what Jesus, himself, said about children.
It's serious business teaching any child something that is wrong. Can wrongs make a right? While many are excited that children are reading more books due to the Harry Potter craze, this seemingly beneficial result cannot overcome the serious implications of what else is being taught. Would I want any child reading some other occultic book, best seller or not, for the sake of extra reading? The bottom line, parent or teacher, what is your God given responsibility? In terms of eternity (what really matters!), what should you be teaching? |
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Written by Josh
Duncan of Lion Tracks Ministries. (c) 2001. |
